Bankers and lawyers in Hong Kong are rushing to submit initial public offering filings to the local securities and futures exchange ahead of a new “name and shame” regime that comes into force tomorrow.

From April 1, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing will publish the names of the issuer and bank sponsor when rejecting an incomplete IPO submission, prompting a last-minute dash among bankers and issuers fearful of becoming the first party to be publicly spurned.

Mark Chan, a partner at law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner in Hong Kong, said: “The printer is full and the pantry is being used as a meeting room, so yes there is a rush and there will be a flurry of filings on Monday before the last minute.”

Ringo Choi, Asia-Pacific IPO leader for EY in Hong Kong, said the new rules created significant reputational risk for the bankers involved in the deal. “The penalty for a bad submission could be being out of the market for one or two years,” he said.

A bank sponsor on an IPO – a role typically held by the global co-ordinator or lead bookrunner – is responsible for the regulatory aspect of the transaction, co-ordinating other advisers and conducting due diligence on the prospective issuer.

Naming and shaming shoddy IPO filings is part of a broader set of rules introduced by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission to raise the quality of companies that come to the Hong Kong market after several issuers, including China Forestry and retailer Hontex International, experienced high-profile accounting scandals. Some prospectuses were later found to contain false or misleading information.

The new regime represents a cultural shift for Hong Kong bankers who have been used to privately filing an incomplete draft and later updating it, with final prospectuses differing substantially from the first draft.

The rules come into force as the Hong Kong IPO market enjoys a long-awaited revival, with this year expected to be a record one for Greater China listings, according to EY. Hong Kong was the second largest capital-raising centre globally during the first quarter, with 15 deals raising $5 billion.